Luke 12:54-56 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

And he said to the people Namely, to the unbelieving multitude, which on this occasion was gathered together, and stood around him: When ye see a cloud, &c. As if he had said, The perverseness which I have spoken of, as about to take place when my gospel is more fully and universally preached, already shows itself in your overlooking so many proofs of the Messiah's appearance among you, while you discover such sagacity in your observations with respect to other things. For when you see a cloud rise out of the west Or coming from that quarter; ye say, There cometh a shower Ομβρος, a heavy shower, and so it is: it happens as foretold. The Mediterranean sea lying west from Judea, the clouds and showers usually came from that quarter. See 1 Kings 18:44-45. And when ye see the south wind blow From the deserts of Arabia, and other hot climates; ye say, There will be heat Καυσων, sultry or scorching heat; and it cometh to pass Your conjecture is verified. The wind which came from the southward of Judea, blowing over the hot sands of Arabia and Egypt, occasioned, as it still does, a great heat in the air. Those which are called the hot winds in that climate are so hot that they bring on fainting and difficulty of breathing. Ye hypocrites Who pretend to ask for a further sign, as if you were really desirous to know whether I be or be not a divine teacher; ye can discern the face of the sky So as to foretel the changes in the weather before they come; but how is it that ye do not discern this time This season of the Messiah's coming, distinguishable by so many surer signs. He meant both the time of the Messiah's appearing on earth to accomplish the salvation of mankind, according to the ancient prophecies, and also the time of his coming to destroy the Jewish nation, which he had described under the similitude of one who comes secretly and unexpectedly to rob a house.